HIMMLER SIGNED TOTENKOPF HONOR RING DOCUMENT GIVEN TO A CONCENTRATION CAMP OFFICER
HEINRICH HIMMLER (1900 - 1945) Hitler's Chief of the Gestapo placed in charge of security and responsible for the construction and operation of extermination camps. He chose suicide rather than face a hangman's noose at Nuremberg. Extraordinary signed document in which Himmler presents the coveted Totenkopf honor ring to an upper officer of a concentration camp. The 1p. sm. folio document, signed in Berlin, July 14, 1938, presents the honor ring to "SS-Untersturmfuhrer Mann Ludwig SS-Nr. 89 909. Fuhrer im Stab des Fuhrers der SS-Totenkopfverbande und Konzentrationslager". The text of the presentation reads in part: "I award you the SS Death's Head Ring. The ring symbolizes our loyalty to the Führer, our steadfast obedience and our brotherhood and comradeship. The Death's Head reminds us that we should be ready at any time to lay down our lives for the good of the Germanic people...The Death's Head Ring cannot be bought or sold and must never fall into the hands of those not entitled to wear it. When you leave the SS, or when you die, the ring must be returned to the Reichsführer-SS...Wear the ring with honor!" Boldly signed at conclusion. One vertical fold, else near fine condition, in custom leather slipcase with brass descriptive plaques. The 1938 SS-Dienstaltersliste lists Mann serving directly under Theodor Eicke and Richard Gluecks. His fate thereafter is unknown.